Along the Crescent

The ancient Egyptians called Ta-sekhet-ma'at, the Great Field, to the valley the sun burns under Meretseger, the Hill which loves the silence. The silence that for centuries has accompanied hundreds of outstanding graves excavated in the rock, hidden beneath the sands of the Valley of the...

Its narrow alleys combined with mosques courtyards’ breadth and madrasas, their Ottoman minarets and ancient souks earned in 1979 to the medina of Tunis joining the Heritage of UNESCO.
Tynes was once an insignificant place which not even would deserve to be called a village. Here the Roman general...

Five fishermen dressed in multicoloured robes and turbans gather their fishnets near the shore. It must be spring. Beside cypresses grow violets, daisies and lilies. Fishing has been abundant and soon seagulls will appear trying to catch their share of the booty. On a similar vegetation, next to a...

When the lofty Anu, King of the Anunnaki, and Bel, lord of heaven and earth, he who determines the destiny of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk, the chief son of Ea; when they made him great among the Igigi; when they pronounced the lofty name of Babylon; when they made it...

Memphis, one of the greatest cities of the ancient world on the Nile shores, built in the western bank, which corresponds to the world of the dead, an outstanding necropolis. Its famous pyramids are the only of antiquity wonders still standing.
The Greeks adapted the name of a mausoleum, that of...

Shorty and stocky, with a faultless white shirt and always with a smile ready, Faris drove his black sedan, a private taxi, through the streets of Baghdad along with his two companions, a perfect replica of the Tintin twin policemen, Thompson and Thomson. Sometimes stopped the car to allow us...

From the perspective that provides a satellite point of view Tunisia is a country split in two. Descending to bird's eye view Tunisia inside fracture seems a kind of lake or inland sea. The approach to land turns it in the huge reflection of a salt desert. Chott el Djerid, Chott el Garsa and Chott...

Children laughs flood the deck at the stern side of the ferry. Others, teenagers, are feeding gulls throwing bread crumbs to the air. Seagulls skilfully trap it. Devoid of enthusiasm a waiter walks the aisle between the seats, carrying a hot teapot and a huge tray of sugary donuts. Other passengers...

Jordan is a Bedouin chimera. A colonial ruling pen product. A Dead Sea riverside, a desert looking Arabia and a stony plane pointing to Mesopotamia.
- Wahad Arak , Mr.?
- Minfadlak, Hassan. Shukran jazilan!
It was the third one. I appreciate that kind of aniseed Ouzo, taken as an...

I may imagine Naguib Mafuz sitting in a table at Fishawa Café. Holds a cigarette between his fingers. Leafing through his notes. A little bit further, to the right, his cup of coffee. Occasionally lifts his head and looks carefully at his thoughts perhaps searching a particular recall. A waiter,...

Usermaatra Setepenra, the chosen of Ra, born to be a god, otherwise, he was deeply convinced. Son of Seti I and Queen Tuya was the third Pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty. Rule Egypt for nearly seven decades between 1279 and 1213 BC with the name of Ramses II or Ramses Meriamon.
Under his reign...

Qairuán has an affordable medina. Not too big and remarkably relaxed. Carpets hang on the whitewashed walls and marquetry decorates windows under a clear blue sky. Traders sit patiently in the shade, on the streets, waiting for a customer in front of their business.
Near Bab Tunis, Tunisia Door, at...

Benabderramane Mahdi is tall. Very tall. He’s also very thin. And if we add a four feet long chèche, the turban kind used by touaregs, he is even taller. In his stays in Barcelona, sometimes he wandered through Gracia neighbourhood streets, looking for the same sort of tea he and his friends used...

Marrakech is undoubtedly one of the most touristic and spectacular of the cities of Morocco. There is not much to tell that has not been said about famed Djemaa el Fna square, its watermen, snake charmers, the Koutoubia tower, or wonderful medina, or even about the Fantasy riders, the horsemen who...

Marrakech, Morocco

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Along the Crescent

Baghdad, Irak

We’ll move to North Africa. From Morocco to Turkey and to the Middle East. Between Fantasy and Miniatures. Between revenge and myths. The Carthage crushed by Rome and the deification of a pharaoh. On boards that provided justice and a friendly look in the ​​Marmara Sea. From tea in the desert up to a beer where once was the Abbasid court.